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I always find it disappointing (ironic?) that so much government communication is using private platforms - even if it's a "publisher"/newspaper. Even if I foll

I always find it disappointing (ironic?) that so much government communication is using private platforms - even if it's a "publisher"/newspaper. Even if I follow a mailing list or RSS feed I'm worried that some stuff might only be put on Twitter (especially with Police/LE activity where frequent updates are useful). Anyway, if you don't want to use Twitter (just to read an image of a real document)... The link to Ajit Pai's comment is https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-pai-statement-section-230 https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-pai-statement-section-... where you can view it as a DOCX, PDF, or glorious TXT. If you are upset by Ajit Pai's actions or Twitter's, here's the RSS feed(s) alternative for the FCC: https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/rss-feeds-and-email-updates-fcc https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/rss-feeds-and-email-updates-...

smnrchrds 6y ago
There was mass shooter incident in Canada where the police used Twitter instead of emergency alert system to inform the public. Not many checked Twitter and got the memo. 22 people were killed at the hands of the shooter over the span of 13 hours. The number would have been significantly lower if they had used something more effective to inform the public. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks
- pb7 6y ago
  >The number would have been significantly lower if they had used something more effective to inform the public. Genuine question: what would that be exactly? I agree that government shouldn't only use private sector communication channels as the primary channel.
  - pitaj 6y ago
    The same system as Amber alerts
    - dlp211 6y ago
      Yep, the Emergency Alert Systems have existed since at least WWII. From a quick Google search: Canada has a National Public Alerting System (NPAS) which provides emergency management organizations across the country with the capability to rapidly warn the public of imminent or unfolding hazards to life. Public alerts are issued through radio, cable and satellite television and on compatible wireless devices
      - simlevesque 6y ago
        And they don't have any shape or form of public API which sucks.
        dlp211 6y ago
        Why would there be a public API for the Emergency Alert System?
        zlsa 6y ago
        To get notifications about an alert in a given area?
        dlp211 6y ago
        Considering that EAS's are handled at a hardware level and a public subscription API sounds ripe for a targeted DDoS attack for a pull model and bound to fail for a push scenario, I think radio, TV (OTA & cable), and Cell/Mobile are sufficient to reach the vast majority of people. Really only people who completely eschew technology would be left out since news orgs will be quick to update their web sites and forward the information into social media platforms. It just seems unnecessary.
        CydeWeys 6y ago
        Have a separate replica system supplying the API, so even if it's DDoSed or whatever the cell alerts will be unaffected. The value of this API would be strictly additive. Think of the emergency weather alert radio broadcast channels as a form of primitive public API. We need something like that but over the Internet.
riffic 6y ago
cough, open web standards exist. The public sector should be required to adopt those immediately.

smnrchrds 6y ago

There was mass shooter incident in Canada where the police used Twitter instead of emergency alert system to inform the public. Not many checked Twitter and got the memo. 22 people were killed at the hands of the shooter over the span of 13 hours. The number would have been significantly lower if they had used something more effective to inform the public. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks

pb7 6y ago
>The number would have been significantly lower if they had used something more effective to inform the public. Genuine question: what would that be exactly? I agree that government shouldn't only use private sector communication channels as the primary channel.
- pitaj 6y ago
  The same system as Amber alerts
  - dlp211 6y ago
    Yep, the Emergency Alert Systems have existed since at least WWII. From a quick Google search: Canada has a National Public Alerting System (NPAS) which provides emergency management organizations across the country with the capability to rapidly warn the public of imminent or unfolding hazards to life. Public alerts are issued through radio, cable and satellite television and on compatible wireless devices
    - simlevesque 6y ago
      And they don't have any shape or form of public API which sucks.
      - dlp211 6y ago
        Why would there be a public API for the Emergency Alert System?
        zlsa 6y ago
        To get notifications about an alert in a given area?
        dlp211 6y ago
        Considering that EAS's are handled at a hardware level and a public subscription API sounds ripe for a targeted DDoS attack for a pull model and bound to fail for a push scenario, I think radio, TV (OTA & cable), and Cell/Mobile are sufficient to reach the vast majority of people. Really only people who completely eschew technology would be left out since news orgs will be quick to update their web sites and forward the information into social media platforms. It just seems unnecessary.
        CydeWeys 6y ago
        Have a separate replica system supplying the API, so even if it's DDoSed or whatever the cell alerts will be unaffected. The value of this API would be strictly additive. Think of the emergency weather alert radio broadcast channels as a form of primitive public API. We need something like that but over the Internet.

riffic 6y ago

cough, open web standards exist. The public sector should be required to adopt those immediately.